The problem with “Deathly Hallows Part 2″

Day of Reckoning: July 15, when Harry meets Voldemort for the final throwdown, unless J.K. Rowlings goes cuckoo and writes another sequel. I really hope she doesn’t – how the heck do you best the ultimate battle of good and evil.

Sometime around then, there also will be a Day of Reckoning for us. The guys already are excited about the movie, though Boots is more jazzed about this week’s “Cars 2″ opening.

They’ve seen the first seven movies, and we’ve started reading the books. They’ve also seen plenty of other PG-13 movies and haven’t flinched, not even at the zombie pirates in the first “Pirates of Caribbean.”

But they’ve never seen one in a theater, where the larger-than-life images and the louder-than-live audio has the potential to scare immediately and trigger nightmares later. It’s one thing to watch Dementors dance across the TV screen in the comforts of your home. It could be quite another to see them lurking over you in 3D.

Then there’s the guys’ propensity to keep peppering me with questions during the movie, because every plot since the second movie/book has been too convuluted for them to navigate without a tour guide. They want to keep watching, because Young Harry had them at “accio.” It’s just that Harry grew up faster than the guys did, and they can’t understand his more-complicated 17-year-old world.

Why did Voldemort put part of himself into the locket? How can Sirious Black be good when he was in jail? Who sent the deer that showed Harry the Sword of Gryffindor. (I know, because I’ve finished reading the book, but I’m not telling you.) Why is Severus Snape so sexy? Oops. Did I say that last part out loud?

I don’t mind so much – especially since I’ve started reading the books ahead of the movies so I don’t lose the next thing while I’m trying to explain the last thing that happened – because it stretches their brains and exposes them to the concept of piecing together complex sequences. I’m not so sure that fellow movie-growers, though, will have the same appreciation for either their budding intellects or their incessant chatter.

We’ve watched the trailer a few times so the guys have some idea how intense the movie will be. That kind of backfired on me – the fire and flashing wands only excited Big Guy even more. “Cool! I can’t wait!”

So I’m sure we’ll be there sometime after July 15 for the Day of Reckoning. I’ll tell Boots that I’ll cover his eyes if he sees something he’d rather not, and I’ll remind Big Guy that he’s not in his living room so please keep the talking to a dull roar.

We’ll probably have great discussions afterward. Except for that Snape question. I’ll just keep pondering that one to myself.

Copyright 2011 Debra Legg. All rights reserved.

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Both of my boys love HP and have read all the books and seen all the movies. One of them, though, does not do well in the theater in general but especially not with the ultimate battle between good and evil stuff. He’s 9 but needs to be able to pause the movie and walk away for a minute sometimes. So we will be taking one boy to the midnight showing on 7/15 and then buying the DVD the day it comes out to watch at home with the other one!

I had thought about doing the same thing, Amy, but the younger one would just throw a fit. I might, though, wait and see it in our smaller theater on post, where there’s no 3D and the sound isn’t as loud.